title: Induction of V3-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses by HIV gag particles carrying multiple immunodominant V3 epitopes of gp120.
abstract: Effort to develop a vaccine to prevent infection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have focused on the induction of neutralizing antibodies. In our previous study, we reported that chimeric gag-env virus-like particles (VLPs) induce neutralizing antibodies which block HIV infection. In addition to the neutralizing antibodies, the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response is considered to be another major immune defense mechanism required for recovery from many different viral infections. In the present study, we have constructed chimeric fusion proteins using HIV-2 gag precursor protein with (1) four neutralizing epitopes from HIV-1 gp160; (2) three tandem copies of consensus V3 domain, which have been derived from 245 different isolates of HIV-1 and carries both the principal neutralizing determinant (PND) and CTL epitopes; and (3) V3 domains from HIV-1IIIB, HIV-1MN, HIV-1RF, and HIV-1SF2. These chimeric fusion proteins were expressed in a large quantity within insect cells, and released as VLPs into the cell culture medium. The purified gag-env VLPs from all three constructs appear to be spherical particles similar to immature HIV but slightly larger than the gag VLPs. Immunoprecipitation analysis showed that the chimeric proteins were recognized not only by HIV-1 positive patient sera, but also by monoclonal and polyclonal antisera raised against V3 peptides of HIV-1IIIB, HIV-1MN, HIV-1RF, and the gp120 antiserum against HIV-1SF2. Balb/C mice immunized with these chimeric VLPs successfully induced CTL activity against V3 peptide-stimulated target cells. In addition, a high degree of cross-reactivity was observed among the four different strains of HIV-1 V3 domain, indicating that the tandem multiple consensus V3 peptide sequence carried by HIV-2 gag can be used as a potential HIV vaccine against various HIVs.
authors.affiliation: Western Science Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: T Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005260:Female; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000276:immunology*; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000276:immunology*; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins